Label or liner applying machine



April 6,- 1948.. R. J. GAUBERT 2,439,361

LABEL 0R 101m APPLYING MACHINE Filed June 11, 1943 4 sheets sheet 1 INVENTOR Rene J.aub erf ATTORNEY FIE 'L.

3. J. GAUBERT mm. on LINER APPLYING momma Filea' June 11, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 R. J. GAUBERT LABEL on mum APPLYING ucn'mn 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 11, 1943 INVENTOR Lb e Jfiauberf BY v 9 ATTORNEY A 1948. R. J. GAUBERT LABEL 0R LINER APPLYING MACHINE Filed June 11, 1943 4 Sheets-Shoot 4 Patented Apr. 6, 1948 LABEL'OR LINER APPLYING MACHINE Rene J. Gaubert, Oakland, Calii'., assignor to Simplex Wrapping Machine (10., Oakland, Calif., a corporation of California Application June 11, 1943, Serial No. 490,411

4 Claims. (Cl. 154-36) This invention relates particularly to machines for applying labels or liners to bags formed of Pliofilm or moisture proof Cellophane.

In my patent 2,347,902 for a Bag making machine and method, there is disclosed an automatic machine for manufacturing heat sealed bags of material like Pliofilm (rubber hydrochloride) or moisture proof Cellophane (regenerated cellulose film). Briefly the machine is fed with a continuous web of Cellophane or Pliofilm which is folded over a mandrel, an end fold made on a projecting end margin, and then both bottom and longitudinal overlaps are heat sealed. After a bag is formed it is withdrawn 'a predetermined distance by a discharge mechanism and then severed, after which the operations are repeated. Bags such as are made upon this machine are widely used in the packaging and marketing of various products, such as cookies,

popcorn, peanuts, dried fruits, dehydrated foods,

and a wide variety of materials which are protected in varying degrees by the Pliofilm or Cellophane.

In many instances it is desirable that the package carry a printed label for the purpose of carrying trademarks, or the identification of the contents. Also in some instances it is desirable to provide a complete opaque liner for the bag in order to protect certain materials against light. For example in the packaging of dried vegetables or dehydrated soups, exclusion of light by means of an opaque liner aids in preservation of vitamin content.

Ordinary heat sealed Pliofilm or Cellophane bags such as made by the machine of my patent 2,347,902 cannot be readily provided with an opaque liner. Introducing printed labels into the package by hand involves considerable labor with resulting expense.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a machine to be used in conjunction with a machine of the type disclosed in my patent 2,347,902, and which will serve to automatically apply labels or liners as the web or webs of material are supplied to the bag making machine. A further object of the invention is to provide a new method for the manufacture of bags from materials such as Cellophane or Pliofilm, and to provide a new type of moisture and light resistant bag for the packaging of various products.

- Further objects of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preiierred embodiment has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a. side elevational view, showing the machine of the present invention, and indicating the mounting of this machine upon the frame of the machine disclosed in my aforesaid patent.

Figure 2 is an end view of the machine shown in Figure 1, but with certain parts in cross section.

Figures is a side'elevational view of the ma.- chine, partly in cross section, but looking at that side of the machine opposite to the side shown in Figure 1. l

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail, partly in cross section, and showing mechanism for automaticw ally controlling the feeding of the stacks of liners.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the same machine.

Figure 6 is a plan view showing a Cellophane bag made in accordance with the present inven tion, and provided with an opaque liner.

Figure '7 has a plan of view like Figure 6, showing a bag provided with a label, rather than a complete opaque liner.

Figure 8'is an enlarged cross sectional detail of a bag, showing a simple label in place of a complete opaque liner.

Figure 9 is a cross sectional detail like Figure 8, but showing a bag provided with a complete opaque liner.

Figure 10 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along the line Ill-l0 of Figure 6 Referring to Figure 1, the dotted line showing:

of which serve as mountings for thearms l3 and It. Above the brackets ll, .horizonal' rods l6 extend in laterally spaced relationship, longitudinally'of the table or frame l0.

The rear end of each rod I6 is attached to a casting l1, which in turn has a pin connection IS with its associated arm II. The intermediate portions of rods I6 carry the adjustable blocks or castings [9, which are normally clamped rigidly upon the rods by the bolts or screws 2 l, and which have pin connections 22 with their associated arms l3. The rods l6 also carry the castings 23 which are held in proper position by clamping screws 24. Castings 23 have upwardly extending portions 23a, and also depending portions 23b,

for supporting certain parts as will be presently explained. The ends of the rods I6, beyond the castings 23, carry the adjustable blocks or castings 26, which are clamped in position by the bolts or screws 21.

Castings 23 serve to supportmeans for feedwith a ratchet wheel 38 and a hand wheel 39. Castings 4| are threaded upon the feed screws 33 and serve to carry the horizontal platform 42. A stack of labels or liners 43 is shown carried upon the platform 42, and it is apparent that rotation of shaft 31 causes simultaneous rotation of feed screws 33, to lower or elevate the platform 42.

In order to automatically rotate the shaft 31, I have provided a segment 44 adjacent the ratchet wheel 38, and which is free to rotate relative to the shaft. A link 46 is pivotally connected at its lower end to segment 44, and at its upper end is pivotally connected to a rocker arm 41. A pawl 48 is pivotally attached to segment 44 by pin 49, and is urged by spring 5| to engage the teeth of ratchet wheel 38. This pawl also has an extending arm 52, provided with a cam roller 53.

In general the rocking movement imparted to arm 41 is more than sufficient to elevate the platform 42 at the desired rate. In other words if pawl 48 were permitted to turn the ratchet wheel 38 during each complete stroke, the platform 42 would be elevated too rapidly to maintain the top of the stack at a predetermined level. In order to provide an automatic control which keeps the top of the stack at a constant level, I pro vide means as follows: A rigid cross bracing member, such as an angle iron 56, has its ends attached to the casting 26. A vertical retaining plate 51 is mounted upon the intermediate portion of 'cross brace 56 by means of screws or bolts 55. Plate 51 is in proximity with one edge of the platform 42. At the upper edge of the plate 51, and overlying the same, there is a member 58 which can be in the form of a flange forming a part of the angle iron 59. Angle 59' (Figure 4) is attached to the upper end of strap 6|, the lower end of which has a pivotal connection 62 with the rocker 63. Strap 6| is retained in place by the pin 64, mounted upon plate 51, and which loosely engages within the slot 66 formed in strap 6|. A rocker 63 is fulcrumed intermediate its ends as by pivot pin 61 to the plate 51. That end ofthe rocker remote from strap 6| forms an adjustable mountingv for the finger 68 (Figure 3). The finger is retained in place by the clamping screws 69, which engage through the slot 1|, to enable desired adjustments. The lower edge of finger 68 is arranged to engage the cam roller 53 of the pawl 48; When segment 44 is turned in a counter clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3, engagement of roller 53 with finger 68 retracts pawl 48 from the ratchet wheel 38. Upon the return oscillation of segment 44 in a clockwise direction, it will be apparent that the amount of turning movement, if any, which can be imparted by pawl 44 to wheel 38, will be dependent upon the position of the finger 68. Normally member 58 is in contact with the top sheet rocker 63, to change the position of finger 68.;

Thus the turning movement imparted to the ratchet wheel 38, for regular periodic rocking of arm 46, is adjusted automatically to maintain the top of the stack at a constant level.

In order to insure proper retention of the stack of sheets without displacement, a second vertical plate 13 is provided, similar to plate 51. Plate 13 is attached to cross structural member 14, which has its ends secured to the blocks I9.

As will be presently explained, in the operation of this machine a web a of material susceptible to heat sealing, such as Pliofilm or moisture proof Cellophane, is applied to the machine and is guided to pass directly above the stack of labels or liners 43. At predetermined intervals a bond is established between this web of material and the top sheet of the stack, by use of reciprocal heater 16. In general the heater consistsof-a body made of suitable metal and provided with electrical heating elements, together with a thenmostatic control, to keep the heater at a desired temperature. The lower side of the heater is provided with extended areas 11, which are adapted to press down upon the web a, and in turn press this web upon the top sheet of the stack of labels or liners.

To enable vertical reciprocation the heater is shown secured by bolts or screws 15 to a spring metal strip 19. The ends of this strip are shown anchored to the ribs or tabs 3| on the casting 23. Reciprocating motion is applied from the rock shaft 8|, the ends of which are journaled within the casting extensions 23a. One projecting end of this shaft carries the arm 41, for operation of the link 46. The other end of the shaft carries an arm 82 (Fig. 1) which is attached by rod 83 to the rocker 84. Rocker 84 has a fulcrum mounting 86 to one of the brackets II and it has a lower depending arm 81, connected to a rod 88. Rod 88 extends forwardly for connection with some suitable reciprocating or rocking member of the bag making machine, as for example the part of the machine shown in my aforesaid patent. The rocker 84 is given a rocking motion in synchronism with the starting and'stopping of the web progressing through the bag machine, whereby the heater is urged into pressing engagement with the web, at the time the web is stationary.

To facilitate making adjustments in the motion applyingconnection from shaft 8| to the bag making machine, I have shown an adjustable connection between arm 82 and rod 83. Thus a clamp block 89 is pivotally attached to arm 82 by the bolt 9|. Rod 83 extends through block 89, and can be clamped in an adjusted position by turning the hand nut 92. Such adjustment enables one to change the operation of the heater for different positions of the label.

The particular mechanism shown for interconnecting the heater with the shaft 8| includes a short crank arm 93 mounted upon the shaft, and pivotally connected to one end of a short link 94. The other end of this link or crank arm is pivotally connected by pin 96' to member 91 mounted upon the heater. In order to take the side thrust of this arrangement, I provide flexible strip 98 (Fig. 5) which are anchored to the heater, and which extend to one side where they are secured to the casting 99. This casting in turn is carried by the frame of the machine.

Various guide means are employed for guiding the webs through the machine. While it is possible to use a single web, we prefer to employ two webs which have been designated a and b, and which originate from suitable sources of supply, such as rolls of the material As shown in Figure 3, the webs a and b from the sources of supply pass together over the guide roller II, which extends between the brackets I I. From roller IOI the webs pass downwardly over a suitable tensioning roll (not shown) and then upwardly, with the web a departing from web b to pass over the tube I02, which extends about shaft I2 between the brackets I I and which serves as a spacing member. Web a then passes over a roller I03, journaled upon the depending ends of the casting 26, and

from thence, the web passes upwardly over the roller I04, likewise carried by the castings 26. From roller I04 the web a passes directly in a horizontal position over the stack of sheets and below the heater, and then passes under the roller I06, which is carried by the blocks I9.

Web b when it departs from web a, continues upwardly and passes over roller I01, which is mounted between the blocks I9. Here it returns into registry with the web a, and then continues out of the machine with web a. The superposed webs as they pass out of the machine, then proceed to the bag making machine, where the folding, sealing and cutting operations are performed to manufacture the bags.

The operation of my machine can now be reviewed as follows: The two webs of Pliofilm or moisture proof Cellophane advance through the machine intermittently, because of the intermittent manner in which these webs advance into the bag making machine. This intermittent motion provides intervals or pause during which the webs are stationary. During each interval or pause the heater I6 is lowered to press against the underlying web, and thus cause the top sheet of the stack of labels or liners to be bonded to the web. The heater is raised before the succeeding advancing motion of the web. As the web advances the bonded sheet of label or liner moves together with the web, and is eventually interposed between the two webs a and b. The labels or liners are necessarily regularly spaced, and the spacing is arranged in order to locate the labels or liners in the desired manner within the bag. Within the bag making machine, the laminated web is folded, heat sealed and cut in the same manner as a single web of material. Thus web a becomes the outer layer of material and web b becomes the inner layer, while the label or liner is interposed between the two layers. The rocking motion applied to shaft 8| together with the automatic ratcheting action previously described, serves to elevate the platform 42 at a predetermined rate, to maintain a constant level for the top of the stack.

The labels or liners can vary in proportiom'ng and in material. For example they can be formed of suitable paper or parchment printed in any manner desired. The material employed should be relatively smooth surfaced (i. e. book paper) and capable of adhering to moisture proof Cellophane when under heat and pressure. The sheets can be proportioned to simply provide a label upon one side of the bag, or where it is desired to provide an opaque liner for all walls of the bag, a sheet of material can be used proportioned to extend over both sides of the bag, with an overlap along the longitudinal seal. It is also apparent that where opaqueness is desired, the sheet material employed should have suitable opacity and should have any other properties of strength, etc.,which may be desired.

Figures 6 to 10 show two different types of bags which can be made with this machine. Thefbag I shown in Figures 6, 9 and 10 is formed with an outer Pliofilm or Cellophane layer 2, an inner Pliofilm or Cellophane layer 3, and an interposed opaque liner 4. Along the longitudinal seam 5, all of these layers are heat sealed and bonded together. At the bottom of the bag there may be an area 6 free of the liner and which is heat sealed together. There is another area 1 below the area 6, occupied by the lower folded edges of the liner and which is likewise heat sealed together. It will be evident that this forms a strong bag, and one which is opaque atits bottom :as well as for its side walls. Such a bag is capable of preserving food materials from vitamindeterioration such as is caused by light.

The bag 8, Figure'l, also is formed of outer and inner layers 2 and 3 of Pliofilm or Cellophane. However, the interposed sheet of material 9in this instance is a simple sheet of material covering only one side of the bag, or a portion of that side.

In the foregoing reference has been made to use of two webs of Pliofilm or Cellophane, with an intervening liner or label. It is also possible to use my machine where one desires to use a single web of Pliofilm or Cellophane. In this instance the operation of the machine is the same as described above, except that the web 22 is omitted. Web a must be inverted after application of the label, and before its introduction into the bag making machine, so that the labels or liners will be upon the upper side of the web.

to which webs of Pliofilm or Cellophane are fed intermittently, for purposes other than making Cellophane or Pliofilm bags, as for example for wrapping or packaging various articles.

I claim:

1. In a machine for use with mechanism to which superposed webs of material like moisture proof cellulose film or rubber hydrochloride are being fed, Where the mechanism performs folding and sealing operations on superposed portions of the two webs, means for supporting a stack of sheets to be applied at regular intervals to the lower side of one web, means for causing one of the webs to travel over the top of the stack of sheets, a heater overlying the stack and the web, means for moving the heater in a vertical direction to press the web upon the stack, thereby heat bonding the top sheet of the stack to the under side of the web, and means for bringing the second web into registry with the lower side of the first named web, after sheets have been bonded to the first named web.

2. A machine for use with mechanism to which a web of material like moisture proof cellulose film or rubber hydrochloride is being fed, where the mechanism performs folding and sealing operations on portions of the Web, means for supporting a stack of sheets to be applied at regular intervals to the web, means for guiding the web for travel over the top of the stack, a heater overlying the stack, drive means for raising and lowering the heater in a vertical direction to press the web upon the stack, whereby the top sheet' last means including a drive mechanism for positively elevating the supporting means in coordination with operation of said heater, and means including a member resting upon the top of the stack for controlling said mechanism whereby said supporting means is elevated at a proper rate to maintain the top of the stack at a substantially constant level. a

3. A machine for use with mechanism to which a .web of material like moisture proof cellulose film or rubber hydrochloride is being fed, where the mechanism performs folding and sealing operations on portions of the web, means including a platform serving to support a stack of sheets to be applied at regular intervals to the web, means for guiding the web for travel over the top of the stack, a heater overlying the stack, drive means for raising and lowering the heater in a vertical'direction to recurrently' press the web upon the stack, whereby the top sheets of the stacks are successively bonded to the web, and means for automatically moving the supporting platform upwardly to maintain the top of the stack at a substantially constant level, said last means including a ratchet and pawl mechanism, drive means for said ratchet and pawl mechanism, and means including a. member resting upon the top of the stack for controlling said ratchet and pawl mechanism.

4. In a machine for use with mechanism to which superposed webs of material like moisture proof cellulose film or rubber hydrochloride are being fed, where the mechanism performs folding and sealing operations on superposed portions of the two webs, means for supporting a stack of sheets to be applied atregular intervals to the lower side of one web, means for causing one of the webs to travel over the top of the stack of sheets, a heater overlying the stack and the web, means for moving the heater in a vertical direction to press the webgupon the stack thereby heat bonding the top sheet of the stack to the underside 01' the web, means for automaticall feeding said supporting means upwardly as sheets are removed from the top of the stack to thereby maintain the top of the stack at a substantially constant level, and means for bringing the second web into registry with the lower side of the first namedv web, after sheets have been bonded to the first named web.

, RENE J. GAUTBERT.

REFERENCES orrEn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

